WE KNOW sloths as sleepy, slow-moving animals that climb in trees. But thousands of years ago, bear-sized giant sloths walked the Earth. Like woolly mammoths, these animals lived near prehistoric humans but are now extinct. Researchers discovered a set of ancient footprints in New Mexico belonging to some of these giant ground sloths. The prints were mixed together with footprints of humans—who may have been hunting them.
The tracks are probably between 10,000 and 15,000 years old. The sloth prints zigzag around. In some places, the prints show an animal rearing up on its hind legs. And the human prints overlap the sloth prints.
The researchers think this is the site of an ancient hunt or chase. But there’s another possible explanation: after sloths walked here, humans may have found…
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Muse: The Magazine Of Science, Culture, And Smart Laughs For Kids And Children (Digital) - 1 Issue, November/December 2018